Is all that smoke bad for my car?

Q: Is all that smoke that’s been in the air this week bad for my new truck? — James L., Kent

Somehow, James, I get the feeling you’re not the only person who’s been wondering about that.

I put the question out to a few local car dealerships, and then calls weren’t returned, and my deadline approached, and then my sister Lisa sent me a text message: “I need a favor.”

You and me both, sis.

So I put James’ question to her.

(Don’t worry, she’s qualified — she’s the parts manager for the Ford dealership in our hometown, which has seen smoky conditions lasting even longer than ours in the South Sound.)

Particulate matter from smoke gets caught in your vehicle’s air filter, which can then cause it to run improperly, Lisa says. With vehicles that have electronic engine management — anything made in the early ’90s and later, at the least — that can throw things out of whack, increasing stress on engine parts and decreasing gas mileage.

Smoke’s effect on your air filter only gets worse if the smoke is heavy with ash, but thankfully it wasn’t too bad in that regard this week around the Sound.

The fix is pretty simple, though: Get your routine service done, especially if you think your vehicle isn’t running right. If your air filter looks nasty, they’ll put a new one in for you, and you should be good to go. If it’s something more, you’ll be glad you got out in front of it.

“The sooner you take it in, generally the cheaper it can be,” my loving sister reminded me (somewhat passive-aggressively about my own vehicle, I’m sure).

As for the outside of your truck, James, the smoke isn’t much to worry about, as long as it doesn’t rain while it’s covered in ash. Lisa says it won’t have any effect worse than pitch or sap.

All that help, and my sister still needs that favor. Guess I’m not getting out of this fraternal obligation so easily.

Turns out she needed a short biography written for her work website, so I blew a little smoke for her. Time to rename this the Traffic Quid-Pro-Quo for the week.

This story was originally published August 26, 2018 at 8:00 AM.